The Final Countdown
by Tetsuwan Penguin
Summary: Astro and Atlas are thrown backwards in time to 1941 just as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is about to start. Astro wants to change history and stop the attack, Atlas has other ideas. This is a crossover with the 1980 film of the same name.
1. Prequel (Chapter 0)

**The Final Countdown**

_This story is a crossover between Astro Boy and the 1980 film "The Final Countdown". I've based the appearance of Astro, Uran, Atlas, and Professor Ochanomizu (aka Dr. O'Shay) on the characters as they appeared in the 2003 version of the Anime._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Prequel (Chapter 0.)<strong>_

_**1980 or 1941 CVN-68 USS Nimitz, near Pearl Harbor**_

**Captain Yelland **watched from the bridge of the USS Nimitz as the last of the F-14 Tomcats was blasted down the runway by the catapult. He scanned the skies with the large binoculars to watch as the aircraft disappeared into the horizon. Warren Lasky walked onto the bridge just in time to see the last fighter lift off.

"I don't believe it," Blackcloud the weather officer yelled out. Captain Yelland walked toward the radar scope. Sure enough, the same strange pattern they had seen just before the ship had gone thought the strange eerie green storm that had sent them back in time was again being painted on every other sweep of the radar scope.

"Turn out of the path of the storm, flank speed!" Yellow cried out "We'll try to out run it this time!"

The ship made a hard 90 degree turn to port at full speed.

"It's no good sir!" the radar operator gasped. "The storm is following us, and outrunning us too!"

"Damn it!" Yellow cried out. "Scrub the mission, call those planes back"

"Wait a minute sir, you can't do that!" Mr. Lasky said. "We've got an incredible opportunity here. We know where all the mistakes will be made for the next 40 years, and you've got the power to correct them!"

"What are you doing on the bridge, Mr Lasky?" Captain Yelland asked.

"Just observing." Lasky replied.

"You know, Mr. Lasky," Yelland replied, "Somehow I think history is going to be a bit harder than you think to change!"

The chatter among the pilots could be heard over the radio intercom up in the bridge of the Nimitz. "Looks like like the Japs are going to win this one again!" Squadron leader 'Cowboy' moaned.

Just as the first of the Tomcats hit the deck, the sky again turned the same eerie greenish blue, and a strange horizontal tornado rapidly overtook the aircraft carrier. Lightning flashed all about them and a high pitched squeal pounded their ears. Sparks danced over the electronics in the bridge. The ship rocked violently back and forth, throwing the crew about, several of the bridge officers including the captain were knocked to the floor. After several minutes of this torture, the skies cleared and all was quiet, except the roar of jet engines as the squadron of F-14's made their return.

Captain Yelland picked himself up from the corner of the bridge where he had fallen. The ship's radio returned to life, and the radio operator cried out, "Captain, I can raise Pearl now. They're asking where the hell have we been? Seems we've been missing from their radar scans for most of the day!"

"Tell them we're not quite sure yet." The Captain replied, "Tell them we were caught in a freak storm." At least that was close to the truth he thought. He really didn't know what he'd tell them when they returned to Pearl. It had been one strange day all right, had they really gone back in time?

"Captain, you need to see this!" a young Ensign cried out as he stuck his head into the doorway of the bridge. Yelland followed the young man onto the deck of the ship where he saw the charred object stuck in the wheel well of a parked battle damaged Tomcat fighter.

"That looks like a human head!" One of the linemen cried out with a bit of terror in his voice.

Yelland bend down under the aircraft and retrieved the object. He cradled it next to his body to shield it from view and carried it back into the ship. "I'll take care of this." He said.

Back in is cabin, Yelland used a wet towel to clean the soot off the object. It was clearly the head of the strange robot boy from the future that had visited his ship earlier in the day, and had flown off with the squadron to go after the Zeros in their aborted attempt to change history. Yelland had no idea how his head had been blown off and ended up where it was just discovered, but things had gotten a bit crazy during the encounter with the Zeros. He decided that it would be better if this part of the story was buried from view, and he knew just how to hid it. He had a friend over at project bluebook that had access to a certain DOD warehouse in the southwest desert.


	2. Chapter 1

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 1.**

_**Present Day**_

**Mustacheo** sat behind his desk and looked out over the classroom. He had been debating whether or not to even come into school that day or call in sick. Not that he was ill, or running a fever that day, just that he was feeling rather depressed on account of the memories that the day's date conveyed to him. The calender on the wall showed the day's date, November 26. It was on this date, so many years ago that the turn of events had been set into motion that would later cause so much devastation and ruin. Mustacheo's own great grandfather had been lost to the firestorm that was released on this date nearly a century ago.

Mustacheo looked over the as yet empty classroom and his eyes fell on a large map hanging on the wall. The map showed most of the Pacific East coast, and the islands of Japan. It was a relief map, showing the altitudes of the mountains, and the depths of the valleys. Several pins had been inserted into the map showing principal areas of historical importance. Mustacheo used the map in his history lessons to show Japan's influence on the world going back many hundreds of years. He reached into his top desk drawer and retrieved a new pin, and carefully pushed it into the map.

The bell for the first period rang and the students started to shuffle into the classroom. As usual, Astro was one of the first students to enter, taking his seat in the last row, before most of the other students entered the class room. He did have a slight speed advantage over the other students, but mostly, he had quite an enthusiasm advantage over them. Tamao was right behind him, followed by Kenichi. Abercrombie, as usual was the last to enter, just seconds before the late bell sounded.

Mustacheo quickly took the attendance count before starting the day's history class.  
>"Today is an important day in the history of our country, though not one that we should all be proud of." He began. "I've added a new pin to the map on the wall, perhaps someone here might be able to find it and tell us the significance of it."<p>

Astro's keen memory and eyesight made the task trivial for him, while the other students had to walk up the the map to get a close enough look. After a few minutes when no one had yet come up with any answer, Astro waved his hand from his desk.

"Yes Astro, would you like to show us on the map?" Mustacheo asked.

Astro nodded his head and slowly walked to the wall where the large map was hanging. He pointed to the pin and slowly read the label under it, printed on the map.

"Hitokappu Harbor, island of Iturup." Astro said, adding "But this is part of Russia? What does it have to do with Japan?"

"Very good Astro!" Mustacheo said. "That is exactly the location I had in mind. That island once belonged to Japan, almost a century ago. We lost it during the second world war. It was from that very spot that a very shameful event was started which eventually led to a great self inflected suffering upon the people of this country."

Kenichi raised his hand and waved if frantically.

"Yes, Kenichi?" Mustacheo said.

"You're referring to the attack on Pearl Harbor, right?"

"Yes, it was on that date that the attack force from our country left what was then Northern Japan." Mustacheo explained. "There were six aircraft carriers and 408 aircraft in the attack group. The Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaka and the Zuikaku were in the battle group. The first four of them would latter be sunk during the battle of Midway."

"Why did we attack the America?" Astro asked.

"At the time the world was divided into many smaller nations, each trying to grab control of as much territory and resources for themselves as possible." Mustacheo explained. "Japan had just been involved with a war in China, and before that with Russia. Now we were eying territory in the Philippines and other parts of the Pacific. Japan was seeking a source of oil since America had threatened to cutoff imports, and eventually did. The purpose of the attack on the navel base in Hawaii was to keep the United States from interfering with our invasion of interests in the Pacific."

"Today most countries get along much better and try to share resources, right?" Astro asked.

"The world's economy is on a more cooperative basis today." Mustacheo replied. "It's still not perfect, but we've learned somewhat how to get along with each other."

**"BULLSHIT!"**

Suddenly a huge wad of wet TP flew through the open window of the classroom and went SPLAT! on the blackboard. Everyone turned around to look at the window where the epithet and the giant spitball had come from. Hovering at the window, with an evil look on his face was Atlas.

"Oh come on! You think you fleshies have figured out how to live in peace with each other? I'm still waiting for Korea, China, or one of the radical Muslim countries to start the next world war!" The red and blue android laughed.

"How dare you interrupt my class!" Mustacheo yelled walking quickly, with one hand behind his back, to face the juvenile delinquent robot.

"You going to do something about it, Old man?" Atlas sneered.

Mustacheo then revealed what he had been hiding in his right hand. He quickly whirled around and pressed the object against Atlas's head, between two of his spikes.

"YYYIIIIIIII STOP THAT!" Atlas cried just before he passed out and fell two stories to the ground.

"He'll never learn!" Mustacheo laughed, shutting down the taser. "Reno modified this police issue stun weapon so it would be effective against Atlas. He told me exactly where his sensitive spots were!"

Atlas lay twitching violently on the ground, looking up through groggy eyes.

"The next time you try that, I won't have that taser on stun!" Mustacheo yelled down at Atlas.

The red and blue robot got up and limped away. He walked about two blocks before the dizziness went away enough to allow him to try flying.

The class returned to their seats. Mustacheo closed the window and then walked back to his deck.

"You know, I've often daydreamed about going back in time and trying to stop that attack." Mustacheo sighed. "I wonder if I could have talked some sense into Nagumo, Yamamoto, or even Hirohito. Failing that, maybe I could somehow warn the Americans at Pearl."

"Would that have made a difference?" Astro asked.

"That's difficult to say." Mustacheo sighed. "Japan wasn't the only power involved in the war. Even if we hadn't attacked America, the Germans would have eventually brought the Americans into the conflict, especially if England had fallen. Still, it would certainly have saved quite a few lives if we hadn't brought the conflict to our shores."

With his teacher's last words bouncing around in his head, Astro daydreamed about travelling back in time and trying to stop his country from starting the war with America in the Pacific. The bell rang and he snapped out of his fantasy to gather his belongings, and left the classroom to join the rest of the students.


	3. Chapter 2

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 2.**

**Dr. O'Shay** looked up from his desk as Yuko entered. "You have a visitor from America waiting downstairs in the lobby, Hakase"

"Thank you Yuko," Dr. O'Shay replied looking at his watch. "Right on time. Would you mind accompanying me downstairs?"

"Sure, O'Shay Hakase. Who is our guest?" Yuko asked.

"An Admiral Yelland from the U.S. Navy." Dr. O'Shay explained. "Yelland is now retired, he served as Captain on the USS Nimitz back in the early 1980's. He must be pushing 90 by now. He called me a week ago to let me know that he wanted to visit us. He said he has something that belongs to me."

The Doctor and his assistant took the elevator down to the main lobby of the Ministry's main building. Their guest was seated in a wheelchair in the reception area. The retired American Admiral was dressed in a business casual suit, but wore a decades old naval cap with the CVN-68 insignia of his first command, the USS Nimitz. He had a large cardboard box sitting in his lap.

"Admiral Yelland, I presume?" O'Shay asked.

"Correct." Yelland replied, "and you would be Dr. O'Shay, head of the Ministry of Science?"

"Yes," O'Shay replied, extending his hand in greeting.

The two men shook hands. "Would you allow me to wheel you upstairs Admiral?"

"Go right ahead." Yelland replied.

O'Shay got behind the Admiral and grabbed hold of the chair's handles. The three of them entered the elevator and soon found themselves in the doctor's office.

"Now then what was so urgent that you had to catch the next flight to Japan to see me?" Dr. O'Shay asked as he sat down behind his desk. "And what is it that I've lost which you wanted to return?"

"That is a very long story, Hakase." Yelland said. "And what's in this box may very well not make any sense to you. I've had this object since 1980 when it was left behind on my ship. It's been in storage in a top secret warehouse in the American southwest desert since then. I only recently realized where that object came from, and who it belonged to."

The Admiral held the box up, and gave it to the doctor. Yuko handed the doctor a swiss army knife she kept in her purse and the doctor slowly cut through the cords and sealing tape holding the box closed. He then lifted the lid and looked inside. "What the hell?" he muttered. "How can this be in here!"

"What is it doctor?" Yuko asked.

O'Shay reached into the box and pulled out a robot's head.

"That's Astro's head!" Yuko stammered.

"So this did belong to you" Yelland replied. "Exactly what is Astro?"

"He is an advanced robot made in the form of a nine year old boy." Dr. O'Shay replied. "Astro was built in the first years of the 21st century by the former head of the Science Ministry. Dr. Tenma created Astro as a replacement for his own son. After Tenma suffered a mental breakdown, Astro had been in storage for many years before I revived him. What I don't understand is how you could have had his head in your possession for nearly 35 years. Besides, his head was securely attached to his body this morning when he left for school."

"I know you are going to find my story unbelievable Dr. O'Shay, but I first met Astro in 1980, or rather 1941 depending on how you look at it." The retired Admiral said.

"You time traveled?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, and apparently so did Astro." Yelland replied.

"Astro never mentioned that to me, and I don't ever recall him loosing his head and requiring a replacement." The doctor said scratching his chin.

"Perhaps it hasn't happened yet." Yelland suggested. "He never did tell me what year he came from."

"How did you travel backwards in time?" Dr. O'Shay asked. "And how did you meet up with Astro?"

"Ah, that is a story." Yelland said. "The Nimitz was on a routine training mission just to the west of Pearl Harbor. We turned into the wind to launch our fighters when a strange cloud formation appeared on our radar. I ordered the ship turned away from the path of the storm, but no matter how we tried to out run it, the weather closed in on us. We had no choice but to recall the planes, they started landing just as the storm hit us. It was like a horizontal tornado, a strange funnel that sucked us into it. The sky turned a sickening green color and lightning flashed all around us. Electrical discharges danced about on the electronics in the bridge. Then a loud earsplitting squeal deafened us. When it was all over, we had lost contract with Pearl harbor, and the only radio transmissions we could pick up were old radio programs on the AM broadcast band."

"The storm carried you backwards in time?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, to December 6, 1941." Yelland replied. "We were back in 1941 for over 24 hours."

"What happened?"

"We sent our AWACKS and several patrol aircraft aloft to get a better picture of what we were facing." Yelland explained. "We discovered the Japanese naval task force a few hundred miles to the west of Pearl. One of our fighter patrols ran into a bunch of Zeros, and were engaged with them in a dog fight. Needless to say the Zeros were very much outmatched! Astro must have followed one of our fighters back to the Nimitz, he landed next to the bridge tower, that's when I first met him."

"My God!" O'Shay gasped. "You found yourself on a modern warship in the middle of the attack against Pearl Harbor! What were you thinking?"

"We had this crazy idea that we could change history, to prevent the attack by driving the Japanese off. Imagine what would happen if on that day the task force encountered the kind of resistance that an aircraft carrier full of F14 jet fighters could put up? They'd had been scared shitless and wouldn't have dared to attack the US. The second world war in the pacific might never have happened! Astro had the same idea. He had tried to stop the attack from Japan, and having failed that ended up on the Nimitz."

"But you didn't change history." O'Shay said.

"Because it probably isn't possible." Yelland replied. "Shortly after we launched our fighters to go up against the Japanese the storm returned. One group of fighters did briefly tangle with an advanced scout from a Japanese flight group. It appears that Astro came to the rescue of one of our planes, and somehow his head ended up in the wheel well of the aircraft. The storm sucked us back to 1980 where we came from, but Astro wasn't with us. I had hoped that he made it back home alive. Since for Astro this apparently hasn't happened yet, maybe you'd better warn him."

**Yuko **entered the office with a serious look on her face. "Sorry to interrupt you Doctor, but you have an urgent video call on your computer."

"Thank you Yuko," O'Shay replied as he opened the video contact on the desktop computer. "Please excuse me for a moment would you, Admiral?"

"Certainly, take your time." Yelland replied, as he wheeled his chair around to the side of the desk to get a glimpse of the monitor screen.

The image of Dr. Cirrus of the Metro City weather bureau appeared on the video conference screen. He had a worried look on his face.

"Good afternoon, Dr. O'Shay," Cirrus began. "I'm calling you because it looks like the weather bureau may need the ministries help. It appears that we have a very violent weather pattern moving into our area. Lot's of lightning and threat of tornadoes. I've never seen anything like this in quite a few years, if ever. It may generate an EMP event that could cause havoc with the cities robots. Let me share my computer screen with you and let you see what the radar and satellites are showing."

Dr. Cirrus's face disappeared from the monitor and was replaced by an image from the weather bureau's computer system. Two separate windows showed color enhanced images of a storm that was rapidly approaching from the north.

"Can you zoom in with a street map overlay in the northern quadrant of the city?" Dr. O'Shay asked.

"Sure, give me a second." Cirrus replied.

The radar image enlarged and was displayed over a map of the city. Yuko took that moment to walk in and observe the computer monitor screen.

"Dr., it looks like the storm is rapidly approaching the district where the Metro City Middle school is located." She said.

"Yes, that's Astro's school, and they should be letting out classes for the day any minute now." O'Shay realized.

"Let me see if I can bring up a ground view from any web-cams in the area." Cirrus said.

The radar map disappeared from the screen and was replaced by a web-cam view near the Metro City Middle school. The sky was a deep green in color, with lightning flashing periodically. In the distance toward the horizon a horizontal funnel cloud could be seen slowly rotating, it's mouth full of lightning flashes.

Admiral Yelland stared at the computer screen. "My God!" he exclaimed. "That's the same kind of storm that got us 35 years ago!"


	4. Chapter 3

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 3.**

**The** skies over the school took on a strange, erire green glow as the students filed out for the 3 PM bell. It certainly looked like rain, in the distance flashes of lightning produced reverberations of thunder. The students hurried home, they had all been caught unprepared for the late afternoon change in weather which had not been predicted by the weather service.

As Astro exited the building, the wind was just starting to freshen and the first drops of rain were falling. Sitting on the steps of the school building crying, was one of the younger grade students. The small girl was frightened by the weather, among other things.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Astro asked.

"The bus left without me, and I can't get my mom on the phone" she cried, holding up her cell phone which kept buzzing with a busy signal.

"Where do you live?" Astro asked, "I'll take you home."

The seven year old whispered her address into Astro's ear.

Astro bent down and told her "Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight!"

He gently took off and flew the short distance to her house. His new friend gave him a kiss on the cheek, and rang the doorbell of her house. Astro waited until the girl's mother opened the door and let her in before taking off again. The rain had picked up now, instead of a light drizzle there were sheets of rain pelting him. Astro gained altitude to try and get above the rain clouds, but the wind only picked up as he climbed. Flying IFR, he found himself in the middle of a lightning cloud with flashes of electricity all about him. The cloud was aglow with a bright green light, and he could feel the pins and needles of Saint Elmo's fire against his skin.

**There** was a sudden blast of blinding light as a bolt of lighting cut across Astro's path, briefly blinding him. Astro was bounced around in the clouds and suddenly found himself being sucked into the vortex of a horizontal funnel cloud. He fought the winds for a few minutes, but soon realized that they were more powerful than he was, so he stopped struggling and merely tried to keep in control. Suddenly he was spat out of the disturbance into calm air. The skies cleared and he was flying VFR once again. Astro could now see the ground, though he was confused at what he saw.

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><p><strong>Atlas<strong> flew toward the school thinking he'd catch Astro leaving for home after the 3 PM bell. He figured that his rival had something to do with Mustacheo knowing about the effect of the police taser on him, and he intended on giving Astro a piece of his mind. As the red and blue robot neared the school the sky darkened and he felt the first raindrops in his face. Being more brazen than smart, Atlas decided to hover up near the clouds to hide from view until Astro walked out of the building.

The wind picked up and Atlas was caught in a horizontal gust that sucked him into a whirlpool of wind. Atlas tried to blast himself free, but he only bounced around even more. Bolts of lightning surrounded him inside of the green glow of the clouds. Suddenly, he was thrown free just as a bolt of lightning hit him squarely in the ass. He plummeted toward the ground and landed in the top of a tree.

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><p><strong>Astro <strong>now found himself flying above a neighborhood that no longer resembled the one he had just been above. The layout of the streets were somewhat familiar, but few of the houses were the same. In the distance he saw what looked like a factory area that he'd once seen in some old photographs in his history class. That district had been totally destroyed during the American bombing raids over Tokyo during the second world war. Today (?) it should have been a housing district, the factories long gone and relocated to another part of the city where they now made electronics rather than munitions.

Astro tried to get a GPS fix on his location, but his internal satellite receivers could find no signal. He wondered if he had been damaged by any EMP from the lightning so he brought up his heads up display to run diagnostics on his internal systems. No errors were reported, and he also saw that his energy levels were nearly at full. He landed somewhere in the downtown area to get his bearings. The busy downtown area was just as crowded as usual this late in the afternoon, but everything there looked different from what it should be. Astro noticed that the people passing by him gave him strange stares. He passed a newsstand where the afternoon newspapers were stacked for sale. It was then when he got the worst shock of his lifetime. The date at the top of the paper read November 1, 1941!

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><p><strong>Atlas <strong>fell out of the tree and slowly righted himself. He recognized where he was at once from memory, and the six armed palace guards surrounding him. He had no idea how he'd been blown off course to land in the courtyard of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.  
>"Why don't you guys just tell 悠仁親王 悠仁 (Hisahito) that I'm a friend of Astro and let me go?" Atlas said.<p>

The guards only moved in closer to him.  
>"We know of no such person, what are you and why do you threaten 昭和天皇?"<p>

Atlas looked up to catch a glimpse of the palace, and saw the balcony of the emperor's study where he had been several times visiting with Astro. A strange face appeared there, dressed in the official dress uniform of the emperor. He was a middle aged man, not the youthful teen that Astro had introduced him to.

"You will come with us!" The palace guards ordered, now backed up by an equal number of military guards bearing sub-machine guns. Atlas gave in and followed them, and was led to a small prison cell where he was locked in. A calendar hung on the wall above the guards station, and he could see the current date.  
>"No fraggin way! It's not possible, is it?" he thought to himself. "That must have been one weird storm I went though!" The calendar read November 1, 1941.<p>

Atlas thought to himself, "There's now way these guys would comprehend robots, they must really be freaked out to see me. If I'm going to get out of here, I'm either going to have to bust out and cause myself more issues than I want to deal with, or try and fit in and fool them. So maybe I'd better morph back to my other self, much as I detest the idea."

Atlas waited for the guard to lose interest in him and turn away to gaze elsewhere. He sat down on the small bed in the cell and opened his access panel to throw a switch. His body started to morph from the armored Atlas form into his former Daichi persona. The next time the guard looked at his cell, the red and blue battle robot was gone, and the teenage boy biker was sitting in there.

* * *

><p><strong>Astro<strong> was glad that he was wearing his school uniform despite how it looked out of place in the current time frame. He'd have looked even more our of place if he'd been caught in that storm in his painted on 'birthday suit'. He also had some yen coins in his pocket, with any luck the store keepers wouldn't notice the date on them. He found a clothing store and quickly selected a set of appropriate attire, paid for them, and then ducked into an alley to change. Astro adjusted the beret cap he'd gotten so it hid his sharp cowlicks properly. The cap, and the light colored sunglasses he'd found made him look human enough to fit in.

Astro didn't know what he was going to do, but he hoped that the same freak electrical storm that had seemed to transport him back in time would eventually reoccur and he'd be able to catch a ride back the other way. Yet The importance of the date hit him squarely in the face. Mustachio had expressed his wish to go back in time and try to prevent Japan's starting the war in the Pacific. Maybe he had been sent back to do that? Perhaps it was his destiny to try. The first thing he decided to do, was to try and talk to the Emperor and change his mind. Astro was familiar with the layout of the Imperial Palace, he'd been the guest of Prince Hisahito Akishino many times The prince had told him all sorts of stories about Emperor Hirohito. Maybe he could leverage his knowledge and pull it off. He decided he'd have to try.

**Astro **calmly walked up to the palace gates from the street entrance. The palace itself was in the middle of an artificial island in the middle of the city. There was a large area with many trees off to one side of the complex, and garden areas to the other side. Smaller buildings held military barracks for the guards, and a small detention area with a few holding cells.

Now dressed more appropriately for the occasion, Astro was able to approach the guard at the street entrance and try to negotiate his way in.

"I'm a friend of the royal family," he sweetly told the guard, dropping a few names that Hisahito had given him, including that of Prince Akihito.

The guard asked Astro a few questions that he was able to fake the answers to, then had a second thought.  
>"I was on duty on the grounds when we stopped some kid a little taller than you in some kind of weird red samurai costume."<p>

Astro maintained a poker face, but he had a good guess who the guard was talking about. "_Damn, that idiot Atlas must have got caught in the tail end of the same storm that got __me__._", he thought.

"Don't have a clue who you could be talking about." Astro replied.

To his surprise, the guard motioned to Astro to enter the grounds. The crown prince was in the garden, accompanied by a few guardians. Astro bowed a greeting to him, and he returned the gesture. The boy was a year younger than Astro's apparent human age, and he was pleased to have a new companion to talk to. The guardians didn't see Astro as a threat and noticed that the prince accepted him as a playmate, so they didn't question it. It appeared that Astro's gambit was working.

"Can you stay for the evening meal?" The prince asked.

"Yes, I'd be honored to." Astro replied politely.

This was exactly what Astro was hoping for, a chance to get the ear of the emperor. He still hadn't figured out how he was going to approach the matter, but he needed to let the ruler know of the future disaster that would grip the nation, if he tried to spread his conquest into the Pacific and involve American in the war.

* * *

><p><strong>Naval General Isoroku Yamamoto<strong> finished laying out his battle strategy to the Naval General Staff. The assembled commanders returned a combined stare of disbelief at him.

"I cannot see the wisdom in this!" Admiral Osami Nagano blurted out. "Surly the accepted doctrine of America's own Captain Mahan is the wiser course of action."

"Whittling down the American fleet as they advance across the Pacific has been proven not to work effectively in our own war games!" Yamamoto replied. "If we are to achieve our intentions of victory against the British and Dutch in the Far East we must keep the Americans from interfering. Only a massive blow against them followed by a decisive offensive battle will bring the United States to the negotiation table willing to end the conflicts on our terms."

Nagano kept his arms crossed and looked away from Yamamoto. The rest of the staff nodded in agreement.

"In that case," Yamamoto sighed "I will have to tender my resignation!" He started to remove the Admiral's insignia on his uniform as a sign of his seriousness.

"That will not be necessary!" Nagano replied. "While I still do not agree with your views, I will go along with the attack on the American forces at Pearl. However I must impose one strict condition, our government must issue an official declaration of war with the United States before any such attack."

"Of course." Yamamoto agreed.

_Author's note: Did you notice what clothes Astro bought? He dressed himself like his creator (and I DON'T mean Tenma!)._


	5. Chapter 4

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 4.**

**Prince **Akihito brought Astro up to his room to entertain him, and show off his prized possessions.  
>"You told the guards that you were a friend of the royal family, but I don't think we've ever met." The prince said. "Still, it's been awhile since I had someone near my age to entertain, so I went along with it."<p>

"We actually do know each other, or at least we will in the future." Astro said. "It's a bit hard to explain, are you a student of science?"

"I've been schooled in all of the modern studies of the sciences and mathematics." Akihito answered.

"Are you familiar with Einstein's theories?" Astro asked.

"Yes, I've read about his theory of relativity." The prince replied. "I'm not quite sure that I fully understand it however."

"Well Einstein established a mathematical relationship between gravity, time, and the speed of light." Astro explained. "According to his theories travel though time is possible."

"Yes, I recall reading something like that in one of the textbooks." Akihito replied, "But why did you mention that."

"Because I am from the future." Astro said. "I was blown here in a freak storm, I came from the year 2014. I know what Japan is about to go through because I've read about it in the history books."

**At **that moment one of the palace guards entered the room. "I'm very sorry for the interruption your highness," the uniformed officer said, "But we have a boy locked up downstairs in the detention area. He says his name is Daichi, and he claims he is a friend of yours and that someone named Astro would vouch for him."

"I go by that name." Astro said.

"Do you know this person they are talking about?" the prince asked.

"Yes I do. He will also be known to you in the future." Astro sighed, "It would be safe to release him, he means no harm. I suspect that he was lost in the same way I was."

"Ah, I see." Akihito replied. "You will release this Daichi and bring him up to us." The prince told the guard.

"Yes your highness, at once." the guard replied, bowing as he made his exit.

**A** few minutes later the door reopened and Atlas in his Daichi attire was escorted into the room. Atlas noticed Astro standing next to the prince and calmly said, "Thank you, your highness for inviting me in, could I speak to Astro for a moment?"

"Please excuse us for just a minute." Astro said, bowing to the prince. He grabbed Atlas by the shoulder and pulled him over to the side of the room.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I was going to follow you when you left school thinking that you set me up with Mustacheo and that taser. Actually, I'm now thinking you would have been too stupid to try that, it must have been Reno's doing. As for how I got here, well I guess you must have gotten caught in the same freaky storm that I did." Atlas replied. "Do you realize when we are?"

"Yes I do." Astro said. "We are about a month away from our countries attack on Pearl Harbor. We need to stop that from happening. I was hoping I could talk some sense into the Emperor, or maybe the Generals."

"Yeah good luck with that." Atlas laughed. "You've got the right idea, but your plan to achieve it is too lame. Didn't you learn anything from Mustacheo's lecture this morning? What we should do is to head over to Hitokappu Harbor on Iturup Island and take care of things my way."

"NO Atlas!" Astro hissed. "What are you thinking of doing, sinking the fleet?"

"It it comes to that." Atlas said in a low voice, "but call me Daichi in front of his highness."

Atlas pushed Astro aside and walked over to Akihito. "Excuse me your highness, but I understand that you play a mean game of shogi. Would you care for a match?"

"Certainly!" the prince replied, taking the shogi set down from the shelf. He quickly set up the board on the floor, and Atlas sat down next to him. Astro watched as the prince and Daichi enjoyed their game. He was amazed at how civil Atlas was towards humans when he transformed himself into the Daichi form. The omega factor in his programming must have been more intense for the battle bot transfiguration. If only he could keep Atlas in his current mode, but he knew that wouldn't last.

**Daichi **and prince Akihito were deep in the middle of their shogi match when there was a knock on the door and one of palace servants stood at the door. "Master Akihito," he said, "It's time for the evening meal, would you and your guests be so good as to come downstairs for dinner? Your father is waiting."

Astro's ears perked up, he was hoping that he would be able to get an audience with the emperor, and having dinner with the royal family would certainly give him the opportunity.

"Can you bring our meal up stairs to my room?" Akihito asked "I'm deeply involved in a Shogi match, and I think I have my opponent on the ropes. Explain it to my father I'm sure he will agree to it."

"Very well master." The servant replied. Astro wanted to convince the prince that he shouldn't disobey his father and come down to dinner, but thought better of it. About ten minutes later several dinner carts with covered trays appeared in the doorway. Two servants started to serve the dinner. The butler who had appeared earlier spoke. "Your father said he understands, and sends his luck with the game. He also requested that you and your friends join him later for tea later in the evening."

"Thank you." Akihito replied. "Tell his royal highness my father that we will join him later."

Astro felt a little relief, perhaps his plan would work after all. For now, Atlas seemed to be enjoying himself playing Shogi with the prince. He wasn't sure if Daichi was allowing the prince to beat him, or if he really was out matched. Either way, it seemed to be the proper strategy.

**By **the time the three of them had finished their dinner, and a rather lengthy Shogi battle the hour was rather late. Upon reaching the dining room where the Emperor Showa would have evening tea the boys found the Emperor's wife Nagako waiting for them. "I'm sorry son," she addressed Akihito, "But your father was called away on official business of state." She said. "He may not be available tomorrow, either." She told the prince. "If your guests would like to stay for the night, I will have the servants prepare quarters for them." She added.

Astro at once realized what was going on. He knew from history that on November 2nd, which was tomorrow, the emperor would meat with Tojo, Sugiyama and Nagano, and the next day Nagano would explain the plans for war. The emperor would approve those plans by the 5th of the month. If he was to influence the Emperor Showa, he had to act fast.

"Yes, your highness." Astro addressed the Emperor's wife. "Thank you very much, I'd like that."

Daichi bowed as he replied, "Thank you, that would be an honor for me."

"Please see to that then Mother." the prince added.

"At once, son." his mother replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Astro <strong>and Daichi were set up in adjacent rooms in the guest wing of the royal house. There was a connecting doorway between their rooms that could be locked from either side. Astro left the door on his side unlocked, although he noticed that the door on Atlas's side was bolted. Looking around the room he saw that more traditional clothing suitable for appearance before the royal family had been left for him in the closet. There were several sets of Haori and Hakama in plain colors that appeared to be in his size. Also were provided several Kimono on hangers. Also on a shelf were several Haori himo. In addition, several pairs of Tabi socks and Zori sandals had been provided.

Astro undressed and placed his clothes neatly on a chair and got into bed. He knew that he would have a hard time getting any sleep, and he mentally set an internal alarm clock so he would be up early enough to try and catch the Emperor at breakfast before he became involved with the prime minister and the generals.

* * *

><p><strong>Daichi <strong>bid Akihito goodnight and was escorted to his assigned room by the prince's servant. He looked around his room and noticed the door leading to the adjacent room. After bolting the door he noticed the clothing hanging in the closet. The Haori and Kimono were a subdued red color, with a dark yellow Hakama. "He knows my colors," Atlas smiled to himself. Daichi got ready for bed quickly, and was soon lying on his back looking up at the ceiling, deep in thought. He admired the prince and suddenly felt a strong loyalty to the royal family.

"I've been a fool!" he thought to himself. "The real problem with the way history has gone was that Japan lost the war, not that we fought it. Astro and I both know the history of the war, and we both know why the Americans were the victors. We shouldn't be trying to prevent Japan from entering the war, what we should be doing is to insure our countries victory." It didn't take him very long to realize that the attack on Pearl harbor had been a botch job. The attack force had left much of the fleet in repairable condition, and the attack hadn't been followed up by immediate strikes against the US west coast. Japan could have delivered a knock out blow that would have left the US vulnerable. Instead all that had been done was to mobilize the Americans into building the greatest armed forces that had ever been assembled, and to develop the Atom bomb. No, he would get the Emperor's ear and tell him what really needed to be done. But first he'd have to get Astro on his side, or make sure that he couldn't interfere.


	6. Chapter 5

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 5.**

**The **Emperor Showa awoke early, as was his habit. He meditated for a half and hour as he watched the sun rise from the window of his bedroom. He washed and dressed himself in the formal clothing of the Emperor knowing that he would be seeing officials of the government and the military in a few hours. The kitchen staff were well aware of Hirohito's early breakfast hour, and they had his morning meal waiting for him when he arrived in the dining room.

**Astro **saw the first glint of the sunrise though the eastern window of the guest room he was sleeping in. He quickly donned the clothing that had been left for him, so as to make an early appearance. The prince had told him and Daichi that they could make their way downstairs at anytime for something to eat, that there would be a member of the kitchen staff to assist them. Astro felt a little strange leaving his red boots sitting in the closet and wearing the Tabi and Zori on his feet instead. If he needed to use his leg jets for any reason he'd have to first kick off the footwear, his boots were designed with a foldable flap that automatically got out of the way of his jet nozzles. (He could of course fly by use of his arm jets, but that left him without any free hands.)

Astro found the kitchen area by scent. The aroma of boiling rice, brewing tea, and frying ham were drifting towards him as he entered that wing of the building. The kitchen was next to what must have been the formal dining area where the Emperor and members of the royal family would occupy, but a servant with an apron and a chief's hat beckoned him towards a small table in an alcove just to the other side of the kitchen.

"Ohayo" The servant called to him, "Tea?"

"Hai", Astro replied, adding "Arigato."

The servant poured him a small cup of hot green tea which Astro sipped slowly. The man wearing the chief's hat and apron loaded a wheeled cart with several covered trays and pushed it towards the dining room on the other side of the kitchen. Astro followed him from a distant, he stepped lightly and was glad to find that the Zori's didn't make the dim squeaking sound that his red boots did when he tried to tip toe quietly.

Astro ducked behind a large potted plant near the entrance to the dining room as the servant exited with the empty cart. He found the door to the dining room ajar and he slowly entered trying to look as innocent as possible. The Emperor was seated at the end of a long table where the various covered trays had been set before him. He was drinking tea from a large cup while studying a stack of papers. Hirohito was too busy looking at his paperwork to notice Astro, but he turned quickly to the sound of the door opening behind him when Akihito walked in.

"Ohayo O oya", Akihito called out to his father.

The Emperor acknowledged his son's greeting and then spotted Astro standing at the other end of the table. "Who are you?" he asked.

"That is one of my two guests," The prince replied. "You invited us to have tea with you yesterday, but we got involved with a Shogi match and had dinner up in my room."

"Yes, I remember that now." His father smiled.

"You can call me Astro," Astro said bowing to the Emperor. "I'm sorry to walk in on you unannounced."

"I'm usually glad to meet my son's acquaintances," the Emperor replied. "Why don't the two of you sit here and enjoy some breakfast. I am expecting visitors this morning and will soon be busy with affairs of the government. I expect to be occupied with such business for some time, so it is a good thing that you both found your way here so I could meet you."

Astro nervously cleared his throat. "Your royal highness, there is something that I need to talk with you about, something of great importance."

**At **that moment the door at the far end of the room opened, and Diachi entered.  
>"Ohayo," he said, with a polite bow. "Am I in time for breakfast?"<p>

"Certainly, take a seat," Hirohito replied, "You must be Diachi, I'm so glad we all were finally able to get together. Now then Astro, what is so important that you need the Emperor's ear?"

Atlas turned his head to give Astro a stern look. "I suspect my friend here wanted to tell you that the idea of war with the Americans was the idea of a Baka. I wouldn't listen to him."

Astro's face glowed red with anger as he slammed his palms down on the table and turned to face Atlas.

"I thought you were opposed to the idea of war!" He blurted out.

"Not if means a better position for our country in the world standing!" Atlas replied back. "I've given the mater much thought during the night, and came to realize what a fool you are."

The Emperor's face showed a look of extreme surprise, while Akihito looked back and forth between his two guests. Finally the prince spoke.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked.

"I suspect that somehow your guests have guessed the purpose of my meeting this morning." The Emperor replied. "I will be in conference with the Prime Minister and heads of the military. We have a decision of grave importance to make, and it does concern the possibility of war with the western world. But how did you two know this? Are you spies?"

"Current events make it obvious that our country is having difficulties with its neighbors in the world." Astro quickly blurted out. "What other pressing matter could account for the look I saw on his majesty's face when I first walked in?"

"You have the observational skills and the mind of Conan Doyle's great detective." The Emperor replied. He stared at both Astro and Diachi as he spoke. "Rest assured that I will make a sound decision for the fate of my country based on facts. I can promise you nothing else."

The door slowly opened and the Emperor's secretary appeared at the doorway. "Our visitors have arrived your Excellency," he said.

"Arigato." The Emperor replied. Then turning to face his son and guests, "I must leave you now. Akihito, please keep your guests company until they are to leave. I will be quite busy for the foreseeable future." The Emperor left the room with his secretary.

Astro and Atlas glared at each other for a moment. The prince looked at each of them in turn and then spoke. "While he was most polite, I saw in my father's eyes that he was annoyed by your outbursts."

"I'm sorry, your highness," Astro replied. "Diachi and I seem to see things differently," he said as he glared at Atlas, "But we are both loyal countrymen."

"Perhaps, but I think you should both leave before evening." The prince said. "You may stay for the noon meal, but It would be best if you were not here when father's visitors are gone."

* * *

><p><strong>Prime Minister <strong>Tojo, Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, Naval Minister Admiral Shimada, Admiral Nagano, and Army chief of staff Sugiyama entered the Emperor's study with the Emperor and his secretary, and the was locked. The study was off to the side of the building where it jutted out under a low roof line and had windows around three sides affording the Emperor a view of the gardens of the palace.

Atlas grabbed Astro and pushed him towards an outside door into the garden. From their vantage point outside the building near the Emperor's study they could see the room, but the window shades had been closed. The heavy glass panes in the windows made the room sound proof and neither of the two robots hearing was good enough to make out what was being said inside the room.

Atlas ran back into the building dragging Astro with him. There was a closet next to the Emperor's study in the hallway, and the two of them quietly snuck into it. Atlas pressed his ear against the wall adjacent to the Emperor's office, but he could hear nothing but muffled voices.

"Your hearing is better than mine, you try it!" Atlas barked at Astro in a muffled whisper. "We need to know what is going on in there!"

Astro tried as well, but even with his 1000x hearing the wall was too soundproofed. Atlas looked up and noticed a hatchway leading into the ceiling. "There is a crawlspace up there." He piled a few empty boxes on top of each other and stood on them to open the hatch in the ceiling leading into the crawl way. He poked his head into the opening and quickly came back down.

"It's too tight for me up there." Atlas said. "You're smaller than I am shrimp, you get in there and listen!"

Astro glared at Atlas. "You really trust me to tell you what I really hear?"

"Actually I do." Atlas laughed. "I know your programming won't allow you to lie, not even to me."

Astro shrugged his shoulders and climbed on top of the boxes and crawled into the ceiling. He slowly made his way to the middle of the space above the Emperor's study, being careful to keep his weight on the ceiling beams to avoid falling through the thin plaster.

"The review of your eleven points has been in vain." Nagano said. "We've considered all of the possibilities and it appears unlikely that the Americans and the British will stand by idly while we continue our conquest of the Pacific. The American's are sure to cut off our supplies and will leave us no choice."

The Emperor looked at his new prime minister and the army chief of staff. "Do you also agree with Nagano's assessment?" he asked.

"I do," Tojo replied. "I see no alternative." Sugiyama agreed. "We must make the first move in this game of chess with the west."

"I see." the Emperor sighed. "In that case, are you going to provide justification for the war?" he asked.

"I've already prepared the document for your approval, your highness." The Foreign minister replied, opening his attache case to remove a thick document which he handed to Hirohito.

The Emperor quickly scanned though the document, pausing here and there to carefully study some sections. Finally he nodded his head. "I will need to see the detailed plans for our initial action against the enemy before I can give you my official go ahead." he said.

"We will have them for your review tomorrow," the military leaders responded in unison.

* * *

><p><strong>Astro<strong> slowly crawled out of the ceiling and landed on top of Atlas who was standing right underneath the hatchway in the ceiling. "Watch what you're doing you clumsy oaf!" he hissed. "What did you hear?"

"I hope you're happy," Astro sighed. "The Emperor has given his initial approval for the attack on Pearl Harbor."

The two robot boys got out of the closet and into the hallway just as the door to the Emperor's study opened and the group of government and military officials walked out. The Emperor's secretary escorted them out of the palace leaving Hirohito alone sitting at his desk. He motioned for them to enter his study.

"I'm sorry if we were out of place with our remarks earlier, Your Excellency." Astro said bowing.

"I totally understand," the Emperor replied. "I can also excuse youth of your age being a bit short sighted and single minded. War isn't something that should be taken lightly, however you are a little too young to understand world politics."

Prince Akihito entered his father's office and his two guests standing there. "I'm sorry father, I had asked them to be gone by the time your visitors had left. I assumed that you were displeased with their actions earlier."

"They were perhaps a bit strong minded, but not disrespectful, Akihito," the Emperor replied. "Come, it is a bit late for the midday meal, but let us enjoy it together. I can use a break from the displeasure of dealing with government politics."

The kitchen servants brought a cold lunch of sushi and green tea which the four of them ate in silence.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Diachi said when the meal was finished, "But I think that we should be leaving."

Astro and Atlas politely said goodbye, and left the palace grounds by the main entrance. Astro looked Atlas in the face. "Just what do you have in mind now?"

"The best course of action for me is to sneak into the task force and see to it that the attack is done correctly." Atlas said. "When the time comes the Navy and Air Corp must finish the job, not leave it half done."

"I still disagree." Astro replied. "The attack should never happen. Only if Japan and the United States never cross swords will Japan be spared from the utter defeat and the two atomic bombs."

"Do as you will then," Atlas said holding a fist up to Astro's face. "Just keep out of my way, or you will regret it!" With that Diachi morphed back into the battle bot form and blasted skyward, flying towards the Northeast.


	7. Chapter 6

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 6.**

_The Present date_

**The **rain came down in blinding sheets against the windows of the Japanese Science Ministry building. The sky had turned a vivid green as lightning flashes in the distance, each flash momentarily blinding anyone looking towards the horizon. The sound of a child's running footsteps grew stronger out in the hallway, and suddenly the door to Dr. O'Shay's office burst open as Uran ran into the room soaking wet and dripping puddles of water onto the tile floor.

"Thank God, you made it home from school alright." the doctor said with some relief in his voice as the girl ran toward him and wrapped herself around her guardian in a wet bear hug.

"This is Uran, Astro's little sister." O'Shay explained to the Admiral.

"I'm pleased to meet you Uran." Yelland replied.

"Who are you?" Uran asked.

"I'm a friend of your brother," Yelland replied, "We met a long time ago, and haven't seen each other forever."

"Have you seen your brother?" O'Shay asked the girl.

"Īe" Uran said. "I don't know what happened to him, and I had to walk all the way back here from school through the rain by myself!"

"Doctor," The Admiral said motioning for O'Shay to come closer. "I think we both know what has happened to Astro." he said in a whisper.

"Excuse us for a minute please, Uran." The doctor said, pressing a button on his intercom. Yuko entered the office. "Please take Uran to the cafeteria for some ice cream" The doctor asked.

Yuko escorted the robot child out of the office, Uran went along willingly, she never refused an offer of ice cream.

"If Astro has been caught in that storm and yanked backwards in time, when would he return?" The doctor asked.

"I don't know, Dr. O'Shay." Yelland replied. "In our case although we were in 1941 for nearly two days, when we got back to 1980 it was as if we were only gone a few hours. But," he said pointing to the box that contained the head of the boy robot, "He might not return. He might have been destroyed and have remained in the past."

"In that case, we might yet find his remains somewhere between Hawaii and Japan." The doctor sighed.


	8. Chapter 7

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 7.**

_November 1941_

**Atlas **stood at attention on the deck of the aircraft carrier Akagi, anchored in Hitokappu Harbor. He was dressed in the uniform of Naval flight officer assigned to the Admiral Nagumo's flagship. It had taken him two and a half weeks to work his way into the position, carefully forging identification documents to create a new identity for himself. Back in the 21st century the task could have been done in days by hacking into military computer systems, here in the early 20th century all records were on paper and one had to physically forge the required papers. With the attack force now scheduled to leave the island in two days, he was in position to insure that mistakes that had been made the first time would not be repeated.

* * *

><p><strong>Astro <strong>waited outside Admiral Yamamoto's office. For the past two weeks he had kept up a vigil researching historical naval battles since the 16th century at the Tokyo University. He had managed to enlist the aid of a professor who was also a supporter of the pacifist cause, wishing to keep his country out of a possible war with America. Armed with several letters of introduction from the staff of the university signed by professors of the history department, Astro hoped to sway the Admiral from his plan of war. He was surprised that his effort had succeeded to the point where Yamamoto was willing to see him, although he had been a bit deceptive on the actual purpose of his visit.

The intercom phone on the desk of the Admiral's secretary buzzed and the officer picked up the receiver. He made eye contact with Astro and spoke. "The Admiral will see you now." He opened the door and motioned for Astro to enter the office.

Yamamoto Isoroku stood by the window looking out at the garden outside of the command office. "I understand that you are a student of naval history," The Admiral said, "What is it that you wish to learn from me?"

Astro had rehearsed in his mind what he had wanted to say to Yamamoto, but he was still unsure how to actually approach the leader of Japan's navy. He didn't know the man, except for what he had read in the history books back home. "I'm sure that there is a great deal I'd like to ask you Yamamoto Teitoku," Astro said, "But as a concerned student of naval history I've come to offer you advice."

The Admiral turned to face his visitor. "Really? What do you think I have missed from my studies of history?"

"Perhaps underestimating the strength of your enemies." Astro replied in a slow soft voice. "We can't win a war against the Americans. They have too much capacity to build a fighting force many times what Japan can ever hope to muster. In the end, a war with America will devastate us."

"You must be able to read tea leaves." The Admiral laughed.

"What do you mean?" Astro asked.

"I mean you have guessed right in that war is imminent." He said. "You are correct, Japan can not win a protracted war against the United States. Our only chance is to deliver a massive surprise attack that will cripple the Americans badly enough that they will negotiate for a peaceful solution."

"That will not work, Teitoku," Astro said. "America is too strong, too resourceful. Surly the events of the great war should be an example to you."

"You are wrong," The Admiral answered. "America is currently still in economic turmoil, and politically engaged in isolationist polices. She is vulnerable."

"Perhaps." Astro replied. "But consider the risk to Japan."

"Now you are talking politics, not tactics." Yamamoto said, staring Astro in the eyes. "Are you a traitor, or a pacifist?"

"Neither." Astro said. "I am a friend of the royal family."

"I see." Yamamoto replied. "But I've already spoken at length with the Emperor."

Astro realized that he would not be able to change the tide of events with Yamamoto. "Thank you for your time, Teitoku." he said bowing.

The Admiral waved him towards the door and he turned to face the window again. Astro left the naval compound, considering his next move.

* * *

><p><strong>Atlas <strong>adjusted his goggles and scarf for a comfortable fit before running though the preflight checklist. He flipped the ignition switch and the Nakajima A6M2 Model 21's Sakae 12 940 hp engine roared to life. He kept his eyes on the linemen who were directing the aircraft towards the flight line. The Akagi had already turned into the wind making 10 kts over the deck of the carrier. Given the go ahead signal, Atlas firewalled the throttle and his aircraft leaped toward the end of the runway. Once airborne he followed his wingman in the rehearsed flight formation. This was his second training flight of the day. The squadron made several practice runs over the Akagi, dropping weighted paper mache bombs. The A6M2's providing cover from any enemy fighters for the B5N turpedo bombers.

It did seem a bit weird to the blue and red battle bot to be flying in a vintage piston powered Zero, but if he wanted to fit in as part of the attack force, this was the best way. He'd already advanced himself up the ranks by proving his flight skills, his computer brain and lighting quick reflexes were no match for any human pilot. By the time the battle group reached their destination, he would be sure to be one of the squadron leaders.

**Admiral **Nagano watched from the bridge as the last flight group returned from their practice runs. Tomorrow the Akagi along with five other aircraft carriers and other ships of the attack force would leave the waters around Iturup Island for the Eastern Pacific. His fighters appeared ready for the task, he was confident that they would succeed. Intelligence reports indicated that most, perhaps all of the American carriers were sitting ducks the Hawaiian Pearl Harbor naval base. With just a little luck he would be able to knock the Americans out of the Pacific conflict before they could even enter it.

**Astro **sat in his berth along with other sailors in the crew quarters of the Kaga. He had managed to forge himself a set of enlistment papers under a fictitious name and secret himself aboard the aircraft carrier just before it had left the harbor. For the past few days he had been doing manual labor along with the other enlisted 'grunts', doing everything from swabbing the deck, to loading practice bombs on aircraft. At least when the time came he might be in the right position to do something to stop the attack, though at the moment he hadn't a clue what that might be.

* * *

><p><strong>Cordel <strong>Hull made his way across town though the capital towards the Embassy district. This section of Washington DC contained many of the foreign embassies, and early on the morning of November 26, 1941, the Japanese embassy was the destination for the Secretary of State. The US state department, under the direction of President Roosevelt, had decided that the conditions for continued trade with the Japanese would be the withdrawal of all of that nation's troops from French Indochina and China. Hull had drawn up an official document stating these conditions, and was now in route to hand deliver this to the Japanese ambassador to the US personally.

* * *

><p><strong>Senator <strong>Samuel Chapman looked up from his desk towards his secretary. Laurel Scott sat at her desk in the senator's office typing up a letter which the senator had just dictated to her. Her dog Charlie sat quietly under the desk at her feet. "Are the arrangements for our inspection tour of the Pacific fleet based in Hawaii ready?" the senator asked.

"Yes, your private yacht will be waiting for us at Pearl." Laurel replied.

"Good." Chapman responded. "Things are coming to a head, but nobody believes me. The Japanese are going to declare war against this country, they may possibly even launch a sneak attack sometime early next year. I can't understand why the President keeps ignoring my memos."

* * *

><p><strong>Early <strong>on the morning of November 26, 1941, the attack force consisting of six aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, Zuikaku, with over 420 aircraft between them. There were also five fast battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, along with numerous tankers to to fuel the ships, left the waters near Iturup island. An advance Expeditionary force of large submarines, five of which carried midget submarines was sent ahead to scout around Hawaii to attack any American warships that might escape to sea.

**Atlas** and the other pilots aboard the Akagi drilled several times a day to keep ready for the expected attack. During the passage across the Pacific some of the aircraft were kept ready to launch at a moments notice in case they were spotted by the enemy and had to defend the task force. Mostly the pilots attended group briefings where the battle plan was drilled into their heads.

**Astro** kept track of the passage of time on board the Kaga. He knew that by dawn of December 7, they would be stationed less than three hundred miles to the north of Pearl Harbor. He realized that if he could come up with no other option, he would have to fly toward the American naval base and try to warn them of the impending attack. Exactly how he might do this, was still a mystery to him.


	9. Chapter 8

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 8.**

_Friday, December 5th_

**Senator **Chapman and his secretary Laurel Scott met with Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh aboard the USS Arizona during the afternoon. The ship had just returned from night surface practice, conducting gunnery Exercises.

"So what do you think of our readiness Senator?" Captain Valkenburgh asked. "I know you are convinced that the president isn't taking the Japanese threat seriously, but I hope we've shown you that the Navy is ready for them."

"What makes you think they won't attack us here, or even on the mainland west coast?" Chapman asked. "From what I've seen here we have the strength to counter any aggression the enemy might offer to us in the Pacific, but you seem rather complacent about the possibility of them showing up here."

The Captain of the Arizona pointed toward a point in the distance higher up on the island. "Do you see that installation up there, Senator?"

Chapman looked to where the Captain pointed, he could just barely make out that there was anything out on the bit of land jutting out toward the ocean.

"That equipment is the latest in long distance radio detection." he said. "I'm told it is called RADAR, and that it can warn us of the approach of enemy planes or ships long before they are visible to our field glasses. Don't worry, we won't be taken by surprise."

After his tour of the Arizona Chapman and Scott made their way to the slip where the Senator's yacht was tied up. The captain and two of the senator's invited guests were already on board the small vessel.

"Are we ready to shove off Harvey?" Chapman asked one of the two associates he had invited to accompany him on the pleasure craft.

"All set Senator. The captain said we can leave whenever you want."

"Excellent!" Chapman replied. "Laurel, will you verify that all of our gear has been stowed on board? I can't wait to get out of here, I've been dreaming of fishing for weeks!"

* * *

><p><em>Saturday December 6th <em>

**The **attack task force slowed their approach towards Hawaii. Akagi captain Kiichi Hasegawa ordered a flight of A6M2's to patrol the immediate area to search for any enemy ships. Atlas and two other pilots took off to the south east and flew a circular pattern a hundred miles in radius around their fleet of ships. They spotted nothing, and reported back to the Akagi that they were in the clear and had not been spotted. Admiral Nagano greeted the news with enthusiasm, his orders were to abort the operation if the attack fleet were to be discovered.

**Aboard **the Kaga, Astro overheard Captain Jisaku Okada in contact with the Akagi. He had a thin smile on his face as he picked up an intercom mike and announced to his crew that a surveillance flight launched from the command ship had not encountered any resistance. The attack was on.

* * *

><p><strong>Just<strong> beyond the radar horizon of the Naval base at Pearl Harbor the USS Nimitz was fighting with a freak storm that blinded the ship's electronic communications systems. A training flight of F14 Tomcats was struggling to stay in landing formation. After several harrowing minutes the clouds began to dissipate, and the electrical interference with the ships systems cleared. Once again the flight deck was filled with the screams of jet engines as the twin engine supersonic fighters resumed pounding onto the deck of the ship.

As soon as the last of the F14's had returned safely, including one that had to land into barrier nets due to a defective tail hook, the bridge crew turned their attention to a more serious issue.

"I can't raise Pearl," the ship's radio officer informed Captain Yelland. "In fact, the entire VHF and UHF bands are dead. The only thing that seems to be working are the low bands."

"Any radar contacts?" Yelland asked.

"Just one, looks like a small vessel to our north west."

"Launch an AWACS flight, and send out a few patrols." Yelland ordered. "I want to know exactly what's out there."

* * *

><p><strong>The <strong>flight of three A6M2's were heading back toward the Akagi when they spotted the yacht flying the American flag. There were three people on the deck who pointed upwards at the aircraft. "They've spotted us!" one of the two pilots flying lower down cried out on his radio. "We're going to make another pass and silence them!"

Atlas had the sun between him and the yacht, his aircraft remained hidden from view. He watched as the two pilots under his command dived lower to strafe the ship with gun fire.  
>"Leave them alone BAKA!" Atlas cried out on the radio. "Our mission is reconnaissance, not to attack civilian ships. Now you have really put the attack mission in jeopardy!"<p>

The two younger pilots ignored their leader and turned about to make another pass. One of them managed to hit the fuel tanks in the small vessel and it exploded into a huge fireball. Suddenly, a pair of F14 fighters with squadron markings of a skull and cross bones, flew past the two Zekes.

"WTF!" Atlas gasped. "Those aircraft don't belong here in 1941! Those are 1980 vintage US supersonic fighters!" He firewalled his throttle and pulled back on the stick to climb as fast has his aircraft would go. Keeping the sun between him and the Tomcats, he made his way back to the carrier.

The two American fighters engaged the Zeros. Atlas heard the chatter in his headphones as one of his companions was shot up by machine gun fire, and the second was blasted out of the sky by a heat seeking missile.

* * *

><p><strong>Astro<strong> peeled off the naval uniform he'd been wearing for more than a week. Waiting for his chance to sneak away unnoticed, he took off under his own power heading to the south east. There was nothing else he could do, he'd have to warn the American naval base that the attack was coming. As he flew closer towards Hawaii, he suddenly hit a backwash of a horizontal vortex. Astro immediately recognized the air pattern he'd just flown though as wake turbulence caused by the passage of an aircraft larger and faster than he was. He scanned the sky ahead of him and spotted the two Tomcat's heading in for a landing on a lone aircraft carrier. Astro's computer brain quickly compared the image of the ship to those in his historical database, and he identified the aircraft carrier as the USS Nimitz. As the ship had been commissioned in 1972, it was obvious to Astro that he and Atlas were not the only ones that had been sucked backwards in time to 1941.

Astro followed the two supersonic aircraft towards the flattop, and he landed next to the command bridge where Captain Yelland was now making his way onto the flight deck. Astro spotted the captain and recognized his rank by the insignia bars on his uniform.

Yelland had been striding towards the two aircraft that had just returned from patrol when he noticed the bare chested boy wearing short black pants and red boots heading in his direction.  
>"Captain!" Astro called out, "I need to talk to you!"<p>

"Who are you, and how did you get here?" Yelland demanded as soon as he was within a few feet of the robot boy.

"My name is Astro, and I'm from the future, just as you are." Astro replied, "And I flew here."

"I don't know of any unknown aircraft landing on my ship." The captain replied.

"That's not what I meant." Astro answered. "My body is capable of flight. I'm a robot. I'm also Japanese." Astro slowly opened his chest panel so the captain could see his inner mechanics.

Yelland's eyes widened for an instant, but at once he understood and believed. He reached over to the wall of the command tower and grabbed for the intercom handset. "Mr. Thurman I need to see you on the bridge at once." He quickly got a response, and relayed orders to his executive officer. "Clear the bridge of unessential personal at once, and get me the smallest size officer's uniform we have in stores, I don't care about the rank."

Yelland then turned back to Astro, "Come with me!" he ordered.

Astro and the captain climbed up the steps to the bridge and entered The captain looked around and was satisfied that he could trust the personal remaining on the bridge. "Gentlemen, what you are about to hear shall remain off the official records, mostly because I don't think anyone will believe it."

Astro turned to the captain. "In less than a day from now Japanese naval aircraft will launch a surprise attack on the sea base at Pearl harbor." he said. "They will sink at least one major ship and damage many others. There will be a substantial loss of life in the attack. Your forces are sitting ducks where they remain, the base must be warned and the fleet docked there needs to get out to sea."

"We are quite aware of the events that will happen." Yelland replied. "We have already figured out what has happened to this ship."

The executive officer entered the bridge holding a folded up Ensign's uniform. "This was the smallest officer's uniform I could find." he replied. Yelland took the package from Thurman and handed it to Astro. "Put this on." he replied. "You'll blend in much better wearing a naval uniform than if you walk around this ship nearly naked." Astro quickly donned the uniform, it was quite baggy on him, but it looked believable.

Yelland continued to address the crew. "As we all know, that storm we went through dragged us back in time. Even stranger is the fact that we were not the only ones effected by that strange bit of weather." Yelland put his hand on Astro's shoulder. "Astro here is a humanoid robot from our future. He also wants to change history so the events of the next day do not happen."

"I don't believe this!" Dan Thurman spat out. "This is a war ship, or it at least it used to be, or will be! My God, this is crazy!"

"What are you going to do, Captain?" Astro asked.

"The duty of this ship is to protect the interests of the United States." The captain replied. "I take my orders from the president."

"Would that be, FDR?" Warren Lasky asked.

His mind made up, Yelland opened the ship's intercom to address the crew."

"This is the Captain," he began. "As many of you have begun to realize, that strange storm we recently went through as sent up back in time to December 6, 1941. In a few hours, we will fight a battle that was lost before most of you were born. This time things are going to be different!"


	10. Chapter 9

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 9.**

_Sunday, December 7th _

**The **sky was clear as the sun came over the horizon. Already the line crew were loading bombs onto the undercarriages of the B5N Kates, and loading the coils of ammo in the machine guns of them, as well as the A6M2 Zeros. Atlas was up before dawn getting ready. He attended the final briefing with the rest of the Akagi's pilots and stood by his plane waiting for the signal to launch with the rest of his squadron.

He would be flying in the first sortie, and he hoped that he would be back in time to join the third wave of the attack, the one that hadn't happened and the one that would have dealt a final killing blow to the US forces that would have kept them out of the war long enough for Japan to finish their conquest of the Pacific. Atlas also knew that the reason Nagumo had not ordered the third wave attack was because he didn't know where the missing American aircraft carriers were. Atlas decided that he would locate them, even if he had do it without his aircraft.

There was just one thing that Atlas had forgotten, well actually two. In a few hours he would realize his mistake.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile, <strong>the flight crews aboard the USS Nimitz were also getting ready. They were anxious to try and change history and possibly stop the war in the pacific before it had a chance to get started. Astro stood in the bridge next to the Captain and watched as the flight deck became crowded with Tomcats winding up their engines. "Are you sure we are doing the right thing, sir?" Astro asked. "We might be about to create a time paradox or something."

"I'm no Einstein, and I don't know if it's even possible to change history, Astro." Yelland replied. "But if we actually can deliver a shock and awe to the Japanese Navy that will have Yamamoto shitting in his pants the, Pacific war might not even get started."

"Very well." Astro agreed, "but I'm going to fly along with your pilots. If anything goes wrong, well I'm actually more heavily armed than several of those F14's put together!"

"What?" Yelland asked in shock.

"It's true. I have 500 rounds of armor piercing shells in my fanny guns, two super high powered lasers in my index fingers, and a particle beam cannon in my left arm that can take the top of a mountain off." Astro replied. "Plus, I can hit Mach 5 in level atmospheric flight, and can reach orbital velocity once I've cleared the top of the stratosphere."

"**Sir, **the AWACS just reported seeing the first wave of the Japanese strike force lifting off their carriers," the radio officer said, looking up from his station.

"Right!" Yelland replied, picking up his intercom microphone. "All fighters, launch! Intercept course!"

The line crew began directing the fighters toward the catapults. The first aircraft off the deck was the squadron leader, callsign 'Cowboy'. One by one the Tomcats took to the air, just seconds behind each other. Astro peeled the Ensign's uniform off and handed it to the Captain. "I won't be needing this in the air," he replied.

It didn't take Astro very long to catch up to the lead fighter. His super sensitive eyesight soon detected the first of the incoming Kates and Zeros minutes before any of the F14 pilots had them painted on their radars.

**Atlas **flew his Zero a few thousand feet above the Kates. From this vantage point he would have a good view of any incoming enemy fighters, although he knew from history that the only resistance the attack force would encounter would come from AA fire once they were over the islands.

"**Here **they come!" Astro radioed to the squadron leader.

"Man you got good eyes!" Cowboy laughed. "They're still to far away to get a weapons lock!"

**Atlas** kept his eyes moving, and he suddenly spotted the incoming flight of F14's coming over the horizon. He'd been hoping that the two supersonic fighters he'd run into the previous day were the only ones that had gotten caught in the time rift that he and Astro had been, but judging by the number of them he now saw it was more likely that an aircraft carrier, or even a fleet of them had been sucked into the same vortex that he had.

"Shit!" he thought, realizing that he had little choice in his actions. He pushed the canopy of the aircraft back to the full open position and pushed the stick forward with the throttle wide one, and the supercharger at maximum boost. He aimed the A6M2 at the lead fighter, intending to make a Kamikaze collision with it, and bail out at the last instant.

**Astro** saw the Zero diving out of the sun on a collision course with the lead Tomcat. "Lookout Cowboy!" Astro yelled into the radio, "bandit at 12 o'clock high coming in at ya!"

The F14 pilot had little time to react, and Astro saw that. He quickly morphed his left arm into a cannon, took careful aim and blew the left wing off of the Zero.

"Nice shooting, Tex!" Cowboy yelled, "I owe you one!"

**Atlas** bailed out as the aircraft disintegrated around him. He looked around to see what had him, and then spotted Astro flying along side the lead Tomcat. "Why you damn bastard!" Atlas yelled out. "I warned you to keep out of my way!"

* * *

><p><strong>The <strong>weather radar on the Nimitz suddenly began painting the same strange cloud formations on every other scan. Out in front of the ship, dark green clouds began to appear on the horizon.  
>"Here we go again!" Black Cloud, the weather officer moaned.<p>

"Turn us out of its path!" Yelland yelled, "try and out run the storm!"

"It's no good!" Black Cloud groaned, the storm turns as we do, and it's keeping up with us!"

"Scrub the mission!" Yelland yelled into the microphone, "Call those planes back!"

**Cowboy** relayed the orders to the flight wing. "Damn it!" he yelled, "The Japs are going to win this battle again!" Reluctantly the squadron rolled into a 180 degree turn, leaving the oncoming Japanese forces behind them. Astro looked about him, and then turned to follow Cowboy back to the Nimitz.

**Atlas** had morphed back into the battle bot form as he fell from the wreck of his aircraft, his blue and red armor shined brightly against the sun. He engaged the after burners in his leg jets and quickly caught up with the fleeing jets, and Astro. "Don't say I didn't warn you!" he roared as he morphed his arm into a cannon and fired a blast at Astro.

Atlas's aim was just a tad off. The cannon blast singed Astro's skin, but the bulk of it took out Cowboy's starboard engine.

"I'm hit!" the fighter jock yelled.

"I can see that!" Astro yelled, "Can you remain airborne?"

"I think so, I still have hydraulics, and the controls are responding, though a bit sluggish. Port engine is still running fine."

Astro turned about to face his nemesis. "Are you crazy?" he yelled toward the battle bot.

"No, I know exactly what I'm doing!" Atlas replied. "I'm taking YOU out!" He increased his speed and slammed into Astro knocking him towards the ground.

Astro tumbled through the air, but quickly regained control. He looked towards where his wingman had departed and saw that the Nimitz was now in sight, and that Cowboy had lowered his landing gear in preparation to get his wounded Tomcat onto the flight deck. Atlas took aim with his laser and shot out one of the twin rudders on the wounded aircraft. "Now let's see what you can do about that?" Atlas laughed.

Cowboy was fighting with his controls trying to make it back to the carrier. Suddenly, the sky darkened as the approaching storm engulfed them. Astro flew towards Cowboy to grab hold of the rear of his aircraft to steady its flight. Atlas approached him and slammed into him again.

"Ain't going to be that easy, Astro." He laughed, "Payback time!"

With the wind increasing, and lightning flashing all about them, Astro had a hard time keeping up with the fighters as they made their way back to the ship. He caught sight of Atlas out of the corner of his eye and fired a cannon burst at him. Now almost close enough to help Cowboy, Astro approached the wounded fighter from below, intending to guide it with pressure under the port wing. Atlas saw him and fired another cannon blast that hit Astro in the upper chest. His body was thrown backwards, and his head slammed into the wheel well of the Tomcat. His vision went dark and he felt himself spiraling about.

After blasting Astro, Atlas was hit by a bolt of lightning and was sucked into a whirlwind. All about him the sky glowed green and he could see nothing but the clouds and flashes of lightning.

* * *

><p><strong>The <strong>sky cleared and the wind subsided. The first thing that Cowboy saw as the IFR conditions melted away before his eyes was the heaving flight deck of the USS Nimitz beckoning him home. His controls were sluggish, but he was able to aim the airplane at the target, he felt the welcoming tug of his tail hook grabbing the wire as his head was jerked forwards by the sudden deceleration.

He shutdown his engine and quickly jumped out of the cockpit to take a good look at the damage to his aircraft. The starboard engine was a mess, and the rudder above it was mostly missing. He climbed under the aircraft just as a young Ensign got there to look at the charred wheel well. Astro's decapitated head was jammed tightly behind the landing gear.


	11. Chapter 10

**The Final Countdown**

**Chapter 10.**

_Present Date_

**Atlas **was spat out of a dissipating tornado into clear air just tens of feet above the ground. Before he could get his eyes to focus he felt himself crash into the canopy of a tall tree. He rubbed his eyes and saw that he was face to face with an angry squirrel that bit him on the nose.

"Ouch!" he yelled swatting at the rodent with his arm. His movements caused the tree limb he was on to crack and he fell towards the ground. He landed on top of a fire engine red sports car, caving in the roof and setting off the vehicles anti-theft alarm. Two police officers who had been eating at a donut shop across the street ran out of the eatery when they heard the auto alarm, and they arrived just in time to see Atlas getting up and brushing himself off.

"You again!" one of the cops yelled. "Wait till Towashi finds out that you've been trashing cars again!"

* * *

><p><strong>Dr. <strong>O'Shay had a hard time sleeping. Uran had been weeping all night crying over her brother's disappearance. It was now two in the morning, and she was still sobbing on and off. He got out of bed and walked over to his desk and opened the old cardboard box that sat there. He removed Astro's head from the box and carefully rolled it over in his hands examining it. "Where are you, Astro?" he whispered to himself.

Unlike a human, most robots can still function while missing a head. The body part only serves to house sensory organs that are often duplicated within the robot's body. Astro's electronic brain was inside his chest, along with duplicate positional sensors. O'Shay knew that Astro could make it home headless, although he would be blind, he would still know exactly where he was using his GPS and gyroscopic senses.

The doctor walked over towards the window to look outside. In the distance he could see lighting flashing across the sky, and he could hear the wind picking up. The sky glowed a spooky green color with each flash. Maybe that weird storm was returning, and perhaps Astro might be brought back with it.

The wind and rain increased, and for about 15 minutes it looked like the world was ending outside. Finally the storm subsided, and it was deathly calm outside. O'Shay started to head back to bed when he heard a crash, and the sound of breaking glass coming from the other side of the house. A deadly silence then fell upon the house, only to be broken seconds later by Uran's screams coming from her bedroom.

Dr. O'Shay ran into the hall and headed toward the robot girl's room. Uran was screaming in terror, pointing to a spot on the floor. The windows had been smashed inward where a large object had crashed into the room. Broken glass was everywhere, and underneath the window drapes that had been torn from their rods a shape was moving, trying to free itself from the thick cloth.

The doctor grabbed a curtain rod that had fallen from above the window and used it to lift the cloth from the floor. Uran gasped at the sight of what lay beneath the drapes. "Ani!" she yelled in terror at the sight. Astro's headless form squirmed about, his hands feeling about him in an effort to confirm where he was. The doctor ran out of the room, and returned seconds later with the missing body part, and an armful of tools.

"Relax Astro, I have it!" he said. It took the doctor about ten minutes to reattach Astro's head and mend all of the various connections. The boy robot slowly reached up with his hands to feel for his cranium. He still couldn't speak, and appeared to be blind and deaf as well.

"Just a minute, I sill need to make a few adjustments." The doctor laughed. He opened Astro's chest panel and reached inside with one of the alignment tools he had brought from his desk. After making a few quick readjustments, he closed the panel and looked Astro in the eyes, which now started to sparkle with life.

"Is that you, Hakase?" Astro asked.

"Yes my boy, it is." O'Shay replied.

"How long was I gone?" Astro asked.

"About a day." the doctor replied. "You never made it home from school yesterday."

"That's all?" Astro asked. "It was over a month for me!"

"Go to bed and rest." O'Shay told him. "In the morning we'll take you in to the Ministry so Reno can give you a thorough checkup. Also, I have a guest that would like to meet you."

Uran reached over to Astro to hug him. She dried her eyes with the bed cover and appeared to be herself again. "Can Ani sleep in my bed with me tonight?" she asked.

O'Shay looked at Astro and nodded. Astro shrugged his shoulders and crawled into bed next to his sister and fell asleep an instant later.

* * *

><p><strong>Reno <strong>strapped Astro down to the examination board and connected him up to the laboratory mainframe computer. "Just close your eyes and relax." he told Astro.

"That's easy for you to say, Dr. Frankenstein." Astro grumbled. "You know this examination bed gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, I know." Reno replied, "But this won't take very long."

Reno darkened the room lights and started the procedure. Astro's body twitched, sometimes violently, as the computer probed all of his systems. The exam took about seven minutes, but for Astro it seemed like hours. Finally the lights came back on and Reno released Astro from the restraints. Dr. O'Shay entered the lab and looked at the two boys.

"How his he?" the doctor inquired.

"Not too bad considering his head was in cold storage in the DOD's Warehouse #13 for over thirty years." Reno replied. "We really should open it up, clean it, and replace some of the more sensitive parts. Still, everything did pass my diagnostics."

"Ah there you are!" Yuko smiled as she wheeled retired Admiral Yelland into the lab. Astro turned toward the door. Even though the Admiral had aged almost 35 years since Astro had last seen him just a day ago, he recognized him at once.

"Captain Yelland,", Astro said. "How are you sir?"

"Well as you can see, I'm not quite as spry as I used to be," Yelland replied. "I was also promoted up to Admiral before I retired. I'm so glad that you're OK."

"Yeah, Dr. O'Shay put me back together again." he replied. "That was one freaky storm!"

"Indeed it was." The Admiral said. "You know, it's kinda strange how that storm showed up just as we were about to change history by stopping the Japanese attack force in their tracks. It's almost like somebody up there was teasing us, tempting us and then saying, no you don't!"

"I guess history wasn't meant to change." Astro replied.

"Well actually, a few things did change, almost as if they were meant to." Yelland laughed. "Commander Owens was lost somewhere in the pacific when the helicopter he was on crashed. He didn't make it back to 1980 with the Nimitz. He changed his name to Tideman to hide his identity. Richard knew everything that would happen between 1941 and 1980, he used that knowledge to amass a large fortune. His company developed much of the technology that built the Nimitz, and most of the military equipment since the end of the second world war."

"Wow, a circular logic time loop!" Astro gasped.

"If you and Mr. Einstein say so." Yelland said.

"It looks like you two have a bit of catching up to do." Yuko replied.

"I'd love to show you around Japan, if you can stay for a while as a tourist." Astro said.

"Yes, I'd like that very much." Yelland replied. "I'll see about extending my trip."

* * *

><p><strong>Mr. Mustasheo <strong>noticed the empty seat in the last row where Astro usually sat. He'd waited for five minutes after the bell had rang, but now decided to start class without his star pupil. At that moment the door opened and Astro entered, accompanied by Dr. O'Shay and a man in a wheelchair.

"Sorry, I'm late sir." Astro said. "I had a rough night."

"Would you mind if we audited your class?" Dr. O'Shay added.

"Certainly not!" Mustasheo smiled. "I think there are some empty chairs in the back of the room."

"We left off our history lesson last session talking about our countries attack on Pearl Harbor," Mustasheo started. "Has anybody here read the chapter in the textbook on this and can describe the task force for us?"

Astro raised his hand.

"Yes, Astro?"

"I must confess I didn't have a chance to read the assignment, but I can describe the crossing of the pacific by the fleet." Astro replied. "You see, I was there."

* * *

><p><strong>Atlas <strong>morphed into the Diachi form and walked slowly up to the palace gate. The guard looked at him, scanning his eyes up and down. "Name."

"Just tell his highness that Diachi is here." Atlas said. "Tell him it's been over 70 years since we last met."

"What do you want with the Emperor?" the guard asked.

"Just ask Akihito if he'd like a game of Shogi?" Atlas smiled.

The guard buzzed his intercom and picked up the phone. He spoke briefly with someone upstairs and put the intercom down. "You should leave." He said.

"I'll just wait a while and see what happens." Atlas said pleasantly.

About 10 minutes passed and the palace door opened slowly. Emperor Akihito stood in the doorway, accompanied by two servants. He looked at the boy robot standing in the reception area. "I'd love a Shogi match with you."

_The End_


End file.
